Early Bethany Covenanter Alice Van Liew Anderson had a story to tell – of God’s faithfulness and goodness, through the joys and tragedies of her long and full life
Sometimes you meet people that just stand out. Alice Van Liew Anderson, to me, was one of those persons. Just a year before she died – during the depths of the pandemic – she wrote her life story in a book titled “Looking West: Remembering a Life Well-Lived.” Raised by Swedish immigrant parents, on a stump farm at Baker Heights just east of Mount Vernon, she tells her story. I was captivated by this book. March 12 would have been her 98th birthday. Here is my story on her, and the book, that was published in a new newsletter I’ve put together called “The Bethany Beacon.”
By Rick Lund
Storytelling has long been a characteristic of the Swedish culture. It’s been said the long, dark days prompted people to gather, to share, to talk and to say “tell me a story.”
Former Bethany Covenant member Alice Van Liew Anderson has done just that. She has told “her story” – all 97 years of it – in a book titled “Looking West: Remembering a Life Well-Lived.” The 336-page, paperback book is available on Amazon for $8.90.
The book offers a poignant glimpse of what life was like during the Great Depression for Alice as the daughter of Swedish immigrants who was raised on a stump ranch in Baker Heights just east of Mount Vernon.
Summing up her book, Alice writes she “learned to treasure life and the people who impacted her. Embracing a deep love of God and the joys and tragedies of life, she reached out to welcome her present and future, always looking West and striving to be the best she could be!”
Longtime Bethany Covenanters will remember Alice’s parents, Otto and Jennie Johnson. Faithful attenders for many years, Otto and Jennie became members in Year 3 of our 100-year history. That would be 1924, when the church was known as the Swedish Tabernacle of Mount Vernon. Alice joined the church in 1941, and as a young woman would become a fixture in the life of Bethany Covenant, especially when it came to teaching children’s Sunday School and Daily Vacation Bible School. I know I have vivid memories of her as a leader of VBS. She was a gifted communicator and an energizer-bunny-like, dynamo.
“Alice always loved children,” recalled Doris (Bergman) Oliver, who grew up at Bethany Covenant and is Alice’s second cousin.
The book talks of Otto teaching his daughter to speak his native tongue, Swedish, which would come in handy in the early years of the church. Sunday morning worship services at Bethany were in Swedish-only until 1938. Doris recalls that in those early days of Swedish services a young child from a Swedish-speaking home would recite a Swedish Christmas poem or reading.
“I think she started this as a pre-schooler,” Doris said. “Her father (Otto) would begin months before working with her so it would be perfect, both in pronunciation, but also never missing a word.
“As time passed, and the church switched to English services, she did the Christmas recitations in English. I think she did these until she graduated from high school. A gentleman in church was so taken by how well these were done, from the very first one, he gave Alice 50 cents each year in appreciation for her great work. That was a lot of money for a little girl during the Depression.”
The book is filled with interesting tales about quirky neighbors, the family pets on the farm, a memorable Christmas Eve gathering with said quirky neighbors, dinners after church with visiting pastors from Covenant headquarters in Chicago and the challenges of making ends meet during tough times.
It harkens back to a slower, simpler time, when the mail lady would stop by for a cup of coffee and honk her horn at the mailbox when the Johnsons had received a letter from a relative in their homeland of Sweden.
Alice writes about visits with their favorite church family in Conway, the Torseths – that would include Arnold, Mel, Gudrun (Hanstad) and Louise (Bottles) – and a risky purchase of three dairy cows from an unnamed church member (I know it to be Swan Hammer). Otto would nearly lose the cows because the loan came due shortly after he lost his job during the Great Depression.
Alice and her husband, Jud, were active members of Bethany while Jud worked for Skagit Steel in Sedro-Woolley. Their adopted children – daughter Sally and son Garrit – attended the church in their early years. The closure of Skagit Steel forced the Van Liews to move to Seattle, where Jud found other work in his field of engineering. But Bethany Covenant remained a central point of reference over the years.
Alice wrote and delivered a poem at the church’s 50th anniversary celebration, and “came home” often to visit her brother, Johnny, who remained on the family farm in Baker Heights until his death. Johnny worked as an excavator for many years for Melvin Nilson, also a former Bethany Covenant member. Johnny and Melvin donated their labor for the excavation work at the church’s present site on 18th Street.
The Van Liews lived for many years at Covenant Beach – the Pacific Northwest Conference’s former camping center – and attended Midway Covenant in Des Moines.
Alice was also in demand as a speaker at women’s retreats, and an avid writer whose stories were published in The Seattle Times.
Jud passed away of cancer in 1986. In 1995 Alice married Harold Anderson, who had lost his first wife. They met while they were both attending Kent Covenant. Harold passed away in 2002.
Alice spent her final years at Crista Shores, an assisted living facility in Silverdale, Washington. She wrote the book “Looking West” during the lockdown, first year of the global COVID-19 pandemic. She wanted to attend Bethany’s 100th anniversary celebration last October, but was unable to because of declining health.
Alice Van Liew was a bright light for Jesus who gave her all for His Kingdom. She truly was “the best she could be!”
Alice passed away November 1, 2021 at the age of 97. Fittingly, it was All Saints Day.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story hits close to home. Otto and Jennie are the reason I exist. My mother, Sally, is the daughter of Morris and Sylvia Davidson. The Davidson family lived near the Johnsons in Baker Heights. But my grandparents, at least at that time, were not church-goers. Otto and Jennie invited my mother and her sisters, Shirley and Sheila, to come to Bethany. All three girls became very involved in Sunday School and youth group. And at some point during those high-school, youth-group days, my mom began dating some guy named “Skip” Lund, whose family went back to the church’s beginnings. I think you can figure out the story from there.)
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